There was only one problem. The only way she communicated was via Facebook Messenger.

He navigated back to the App Store on the iPhone 3G. He found the Facebook listing. The “GET” button was grayed out. But he noticed a tiny, almost invisible drop-down arrow next to the cloud icon.

No Facebook.

He tapped it.

A progress bar appeared. The old, spinning gear of iOS 3.1.2 churned. It took four minutes. The little speaker grille got warm. Finally, the icon resolved itself: the old deep blue square, the white ‘f’, the subtle glossy shine that Steve Jobs once adored.

Leo learned the terrible truth: The modern Facebook app required iOS 11.0 or later. His phone was eight worlds behind. If he tried to download the current version, the App Store would just give him an error: “This application requires iOS 11.0 or later.”

He found the Messenger tab. A green dot appeared next to Sarah’s name. He typed with the clicky-clack of the on-screen keyboard: “Phone dead. Late. Save me some pizza.”